Down Where It's Wetter
by Mystical Light
Summary: The Doctor takes Rose on a trip to a beach planet that has some unexpected side effects for both of them involving fins and underwater breathing that they'll never forget. Fluffy 10thDoctor/Rose


This story is all because I had a mental image of Rose coming out of the water much like Ariel in The Little Mermaid. So I decided to combine the two. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. Italics are an indication of telepathy.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Doctor Who franchise. I am making absolutely no money from this and it is purely for my own amusement.

* * *

Rose wasn't entirely comfortable walking into the console room wearing nothing but a pink bikini so she waited in the corridor with her towel wrapped around her shoulders, biting her lip, and going over in her head exactly how she felt some sort of illness was coming on imminently.

"Rose," the Doctor called out, "shake a leg or we'll miss the tide and the chance to build an actual sand village with little sand people to live in it. The water is beautiful on this planet you know! You can see clear to the bottom, rocks and all! Can't actually swim there though. We'll go for a proper swim soon since I want to show you how I can swim faster than that Michael Phelps. Wait, what year is it again? Forget I mentioned Michael Phelps, alright? Reminds me of the time I swam the length of the Atlantic Ocean - did I ever tell you about that? In the year 5025? Granted, the ocean had shrunk a fair bit by that time but still, that was a pretty astounding feat…"

"Oh, not the Ocean story again," Rose muttered aloud and, unfortunately for her, loud enough that the Doctor heard.

"Rose, I heard that. What do you mean 'not that ocean story again'? I thought you liked that story! Where are you?"

"Um, I don't feel too good Doctor," Rose said before faking a cough that sounded like her lung was about to fly out of her throat.

The Doctor was quiet for a minute. "Ooo, that doesn't sound very good," he said and she could picture the disappointed look on his face.

"Yeah, well, it doesn't feel good either," she said before coughing even harder.

"You'll hurt your throat if you keep going on like that." The Doctor's voice got louder and before Rose knew it, there he was standing right in front of her. "Boo?"

"...I think I left the stove on in the kitchen this morning," she said smiling and trying to get him to go away, "I should check on that. Don't want the TARDIS to burn."

The Doctor rolled his eyes (actually rolled them!) and walked behind Rose, pushing her out into the console room. "You said you wanted to go to a beach and so I brought you to one of the most beautiful beaches in the universe."

"And I really appreciate it. Really."

"Then why," the Doctor asked, stopping the pushing for a moment, "are you resisting?"

"I just...I just..."

"You're just going to step outside of this TARDIS and we're going to have a nice time? Good. I knew you'd agree."

Before Rose could even utter a vowel, the Doctor threw open the door and gave Rose a gentle push outside, causing her to tumble and fall onto some sort of warm sand. She turned and glared at the Doctor as he locked the TARDIS behind him and walked to the front of her, taking her hand and helping her up. When Rose finally got a good look at where she and the Doctor were, she couldn't help but gasp. The water was blue and inviting, the sand was actually pink, a sun brightly shining on a cloudless afternoon and, the best thing of all, there was not a soul to be found as far as the eye could see.

"'is empty," Rose said quietly.

"Not many beings like to come out this far in the universe. Welcome to planet M616."

"Does it have a name?" Rose asked.

"Nope. Hasn't been inhabited for, oh, around a millennium I'd say. Give or take three years."

Rose nodded and still found she couldn't quite speak. Slowly, she dropped the towel from her shoulders and turned, finally getting a good look at the Doctor as well. Gone were the suit, long coat and trainers. Instead he wore plain blue trunks, plain white tee shirt and flip-flops on his feet.

"Is something wrong, Rose? You're staring..." the Doctor asked, insecurely.

"Nothing. 'is nothing," she said while shaking her head to clear her thoughts. "You forgot an umbrella though. Don't...really wanna get burned. You know, in the sun," she said, pointing up.

The Doctor nodded his head, remembering. "Of course; knew I forgot something. Actually, a few things. Be back before your skin even turns a tinge of pink. Wait for me though, okay? I've got a great idea for the sand library." Giving her a fleeting grin, he went back through the TARDIS doors and closed it behind him.

Sighing, Rose laid her towel out on the sand and sat on top of it. Looking down, she picked up some of the sand and let it fall from her hand as though it were falling from an hourglass. Five minutes went by and the Doctor still wasn't back yet. The sun was unfortunately scorching down on the top of her head. Standing, she walked to the water and dipped her toe. A little dip wouldn't really hurt, right?

The water wasn't quite cold but it wasn't too warm either. It was, dare she say, perfect? Looking back to see if the Doctor had returned yet (he didn't) she decided to go all out and dived right in. Rose felt a slight, tingling sensation tickling her skin but ignored it as she swam forward. Her legs began to feel a bit numb as the tingling increased. All the same, the water felt glorious. Carefully, Rose opened her eyes and just stared. Sea life, the likes of which she'd never seen on Earth, floated all around her in all sorts of colors and sizes.

Taking a deep breath, Rose...hold on a minute: people don't breathe under water...?

"Rose?" she heard from above. "Rose, I've got the umbrella and some sandwiches. Rose where are you? I told you to wait for me. Rose? You'd better not be in the water!"

Rose raised her head to the surface and tried to blink away from the sunlight but unfortunately her eyes didn't seem to be cooperating with her and remained wide open, almost blindingly so. She took several deep breaths but her lungs weren't letting any air in. What was happening?

"Rose?"

Turning once to look at the Doctor standing on shore, Rose immediately ducked under the water and hid. Opening her mouth as if by instinct, Rose allowed some water in and tried to force her body to calm down. Breathing underwater? Daylight blinding her after only several minutes underwater? She tried to kick her legs so she could move forward and back towards the shore where the Doctor waited, but everything below the waist just felt wrong and weighed her down. Rose looked down at herself and felt faint at what she was seeing.

"_No, it can't be…I can't be…"_

**

* * *

**She was in the water after he specifically told her not to go!

"Why do they never listen?" the Doctor asked, turning to the TARDIS and waiting for an answer.

He walked up to the water coming towards him and stopped, watching as it receded back. Reaching down and touching his finger to it, he brought said finger to his mouth to taste the liquid. Regular double hydrogen and oxygen but there was a hint of something else. Tasting the water again, the Doctor's eyes widened as he recognized the energy signature and elements forming the final object.

Not taking even a second to talk himself out of this, the Doctor removed his shirt, waded out into the water until it was as high as his waist, raised his arms and dived under. He felt an annoying tingling sensation and did his best to ignore it as he searched. Rose would be in danger, again, if he didn't rescue her soon. He tried to find her everywhere but all he found was seaplants and other swimming fish-like creatures he didn't have the proper time to characterize.

Hours later, he finally spotted something floating ahead of him in the distance. It was shaped like a person... He tried to call out Rose's name, but all that came out of his mouth once he opened it were bubbles. That was new. He had to try the next best thing, telepathy.

The Doctor squinted his eyes and called out, _"Rose!_ "

The being ahead of him stopped in place and turned, giving him full view of their yellow tinted eyes.

"_...Doctor?"_ her voice unmistakably called back.

Bracing himself, the Doctor shot forward like a torpedo and managed to stop once he was right on top of her. He just stared at her and tried to hide his surprise which was spectacularly ineffective. _"Oh Rose, look at you,"_ he told her while frowning and cupping her face in his hands.

The Doctor knew it was her, though she didn't quite look like herself. Her face and hair thankfully remained the same, except her skin was now a turquoise blue rather than pinkish. Her eyes had adapted and changed to yellow with large, black lenses and were lidless like most aquatic life forms. Gone were her legs and feet; instead a large fin that reminded him Earth dolphins were what he saw when he reached the end of his external examination of her.

"_Me?"_ she asked, _"you need to get a good look at yourself Mister." _

The Doctor sputtered a moment before looking over himself and groaning audibly. His skin, rather than being completely blue like hers, had a blue-ish tint. It was as if he was just cold, rather than a creature of the sea. Unfortunately though, he too now sported a rather fancy fin rather than legs. Putting his hand against his chest, the Doctor was relieved to feel the familiar double heartbeat beneath his fingers. He had been so worried about Rose he had forgotten to protect himself.

Rose wrapped her arms around the Doctor's shoulders and she let out a sigh of relief, blowing several small bubbles over his shoulder. _"It was stupid of me not to listen to you,"_ she told him after letting go.

"_It'll be all right Rose,"_ the Doctor said. He looked around their immediate area and saw nothing but water and the odd plant surrounding them. The Doctor swam upward and broke through to the surface. The sun had set and all he saw was dark water but no land. He couldn't even see the TARDIS! The Doctor again ducked below and returned to Rose shaking his head. _"It's no use. I can't see anything but water. Not even the TARDIS."_

"_The TARDIS will be alright, right? Underwater I mean?"_

"_Might be a bit waterlogged but it should be fine."_

Taking a minute to think about it, after deducting several possibilities, he decided that it was officially high tide on M616 meaning the entire planet was completely submerged in water. Rose laid her hand against his cheek as a sign she wasn't about to give up hope.

"_Well,"_ the Doctor said while looking over Rose's shoulder, _"the best way to start is by going in the direction we came from." _

He swam around Rose, took her hand pulled her along with him as he went.

"_Doctor, slow down!" _

He ignored her and only continued to swim faster. After ten minutes of this, Rose finally managed to extract her wrist from his iron grip. _"What's wrong? Why're we stopping?" _he asked.

"_In case you haven't noticed, Doctor,"_ Rose said swimming up to his face, _"I can swim rather well all by myself and I don't need you pulling me along."_

"_Well I thought it'd be a bit faster...if..." _

Rose gave him a look that, even with blue skin and yellow eyes, told him a slap would be imminent if he gave her the wrong answer. _"I'm waiting," _she said, crossing her arms against her chest which was thankfully still covered by the pink bikini top.

As the Doctor tried his hardest to worm his way out of this fine situation he put himself in, Rose noticed a shadow looming in the distance.

"_Doctor…?"_

He turned and grabbed Rose's hand again, pulling her along with him and she didn't protest this time. Whatever it was followed them close at the tails of their fins. The Doctor chanced a look back but that slowed him down, almost bringing him towards the teeth of some great whale shaped being with teeth like a dinosaur's.

"_Doctor, move!"_ Rose shouted at him.

He swam with all his strength and eventually the creature slowed down and moved in another direction. _"You all right?"_ the Doctor asked once they stopped.

"_Yeah. M'fine,"_ she said wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him another hug of reassurance.

Upon letting go, Rose gazed into his eyes and he looked to hers. She tilted her head slightly to the right and he to the left. Their faces were mere inches apart when the Doctor suddenly pulled away.

"_Rose, we have to go." _

Rose swallowed and nodded slowly. _"Yeah, you're right. Sorry." _

The Doctor took her hand again and moved off in a different random direction than before.

**

* * *

**Hours went by and still there was no sign of the TARDIS or any dry land. Rose was beginning to tire out so they stopped for a little while to rest. The Doctor swam around the immediate area and found a large slab of rock just sitting there, waiting for them.

"_It isn't really much, but it's comfy,"_ the Doctor said with his arms outstretched and his first grin in hours set on his face.

Rose swam ahead of him and lay down on it. _"It'll do for now." _

The Doctor swam up beside her and took her hand into his.

"_So...Doctor?" _

"_Yeah?"_

Rose looked down at the wet sand and up into his eyes. _"We're not going to be stuck like this permanently; are we?"_ she asked, waving her fin in his face to emphasize her point.

"_Nah, TARDIS should have some answer. We'll be fine and running from danger on dry land again soon." _

"_I have to say it though," _she said, _"this is the weirdest thing that's ever happened to us." _

"_Oh I'm sure that...no, you're right, this one is a bit up there."_

Rose chuckled and slid to the far side of the rock, patting the empty spot with her hand, invitingly. The Doctor gave her a smile as he took the space for himself. Rose's body calmed down and, though her eyes were still wide open, he recognized from her content expression and mimic of deep breathing that she was fast asleep. The Doctor wrapped an arm around her shoulders to keep her as warm as he could.

Later, the Doctor was never completely sure what compelled him to shut his eyes as well. He guessed it was because of the excessive amount of energy it took to swim such great lengths. Before he knew it though, he himself was fast asleep as well, thinking about what life would be like under the sea like that cartoon's song suggested.

**

* * *

**The Doctor yawned and stretched his back as he took in his surroundings several hours later. He found himself lying on a pink-sanded beach and, looking to his left, Rose was still sleeping away looking just as pink and yellow and beautiful as ever. Hold on just one second...

"Rose, Rose wake up!"

Rose looked like she almost jumped out of her skin as she was jolted awake by the Doctor's call. "Wassgoinon? Whaappened?"

"Rose you're-you're you!"

She looked down at her hands and further down to her feet. She wiggled her toes and smiled his absolute favorite smile. She was also secretly grateful that her bikini bottom was in place and she wasn't showing the Doctor anything she didn't want him to see at this point in their travels together.

"How'd you do it?" Rose asked intrigued as she ran her finger along the length of her arm.

"I...actually didn't do anything at all this time," the Doctor said, looking away and ruffling his hair to remove some of the excess sand that was still lodged in it.

"What?"

"My theory though," he said quickly, "is that whatever was in the water evaporated while low tide was happening. We're no longer in the water and now we don't have to worry about being sea beings anymore."

"And that's...the simpler version of whatever really happened I suppose?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"I think this time I'm ready for a slightly more outer-spacey version," Rose said putting her hand on his knee. "What really happened?"

The Doctor took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "Nanogenes. The entire ocean was full of them. Remember, the ones from the Chula ambulance and how that poor child had special abilities: strength, telepathy, controlling the phone that wasn't actually a phone? Well, _these_ Nanogenes were specifically adapted to _this_ planet's environment and that's why we looked the way we did. The Nanogenes here changed us to…better adapt."

"Oh," Rose said, simply.

The Doctor couldn't help but be a little disappointed. "That's all you have to say, 'oh'?"

"Couldn't quite think of something else, so, 'oh.'"

He grinned at her and Rose swatted some sand in his face as she stood up before he immediately tackled her to the ground as gently as he could causing them both to laugh and have a sand fight before looking for the TARDIS and agreeing not to go to any beaches anytime soon.


End file.
